"I've been in hiding for four days because I was worried about the consequences of this … I am stunned at how barbaric the killings were. When I heard gunshots I fled out the door in civilian dress," Hossain, a BDR guard, told the AFP news agency.

Syed Ashraful Islam, a local government minister, said that a special tribunal would be set up to try the accused.

The mutiny was apparently sparked soon after army officers rejected appeals for the BDR guards to have increases in pay, food subsidies and holidays.